Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Gaining an Unbiased Perspective in Judging One's Own Actions and the Actions of Others
Transcript
- 0:00It is much easier to spot faults in others than in oneself.
- 0:05The New Testament of the Bible relates A parable directly on
- 0:09point quote. And why beholdest thou the mote
- 0:13that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam
- 0:18that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out
- 0:22the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou seek clearly
- 0:27to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
- 0:31End Quote. Matthew 7 three through 5.
- 0:37We tend not to have a very clear and unbiased view of our own
- 0:40issues and limitations. For the most part, our faults
- 0:45remain invisible to us, and we tend to believe an inherent
- 0:49rightness to what we think, say, and do.
- 0:54However, there are also individuals who tend to obsess
- 0:58over their own shortcomings to such a degree that they actually
- 1:02overemphasize them and become somewhat paralyzed
- 1:06psychologically due to the faults they perceive within
- 1:10themselves. Both extremes are the result of
- 1:14an internal bias in our perspective that needs to be
- 1:18addressed. Additionally, when we try to
- 1:22judge the actions of others, we are not always in possession of
- 1:26all the facts and may actually be observing things from a
- 1:31perspective that does not do justice to the entirety of the
- 1:34situation. Our own biases and
- 1:38preconceptions may creep in, and our mind may fill in missing
- 1:43data with our own experience just making our judgment of
- 1:48others even more suspect. It is a general truth of
- 1:53psychology that as long as one is immersed in and within the
- 1:57frame of a particular viewpoint or understanding, 1 cannot
- 2:02actually see clearly the limits and terms of that frame.
- 2:07In order to get a clearer view, the individual must be able to
- 2:11step away from that identification and take the
- 2:14standpoint of a neutral and unbiased witness to whatever
- 2:19degree possible at any stage. Shriyuro Bindu observes quote.
- 2:26To recognize one's weaknesses and false movements and draw
- 2:29back from them is the way towards liberation.
- 2:33Not to judge anyone but oneself until 1 can see things from a
- 2:37calm mind, and a calm vital is an excellent rule.
- 2:42Also, do not allow your mind to form hasty impressions on the
- 2:46strength of some outward appearance, nor you're vital to
- 2:50act upon them. There is a place in the inner
- 2:53being where one can always remain calm, and from there look
- 2:58with poise and judgment on the perturbations of the surface
- 3:02consciousness and act upon it to change it.
- 3:06If you can learn to live in that calm of the inner being, you
- 3:10will have found your stable basis.
- 3:13End Quote reference Srioro Bindo Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1 Calm,
- 3:22Peace and Equality, page 12.